Barrington Area Unit District 220 will receive help from a former state lawmaker’s consulting firm in an effort to spread the word about a referendum next year seeking voter approval to borrow $147 million for building projects.
“We’re a school district,” Superintendent Brian Harris said. “We focus on teaching and learning, right, and not necessarily on how do to community informational campaigns on major projects.”
Libertyville-based EO Sullivan Consulting will assist District 220 under a monthly billing arrangement for a price not to exceed a total of $35,000, Harris said Wednesday. Operated by former state Rep. Ed Sullivan Jr., who left the legislature in 2017, the firm’s duties will include assisting in the creation of factual referendum messages and running community engagement sessions after Jan. 1.
Although state law prohibits school districts and other governments from using public money on promoting a “yes” vote for a referendum, spending on factual information is permitted.
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Oh how you waste our money!
The irony is rich. School District hires a man who was part of the Illinois legislature, the same body which has rendered the state insolvent to lecture the good taxpayers of District 220 why taking on millions of dollars of debt is good. The reality is 40 percent of tax revenues in 220 are expended annually on a pension system which is not sustainable. I say before asking for more money, first tackle entitlement reform.